Curlew

About: A very large, tall wader about 50cm long, about the same size as a female Pheasant. Streaky greyish brown, with long bluey-grey legs and a very long, downwards curved bill, greyish with pink at the base. When they fly, Curlew have a white wedge on the rum

How to identify: Told from the smaller Whimbrel by the longer bill and plain head pattern. The call is a loud, sad 'Cur-lee'.

Where: A fairly common breeding bird of wet grasslands and moorlands in northern England, Wales and Scotland. Common on migration at wetlands throughout the country. Winters around the coast.